


Braving the unknown, this is where we come alive

by DontMakeMeFrosty (AvaHasAClosetMurderBoard)



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Strangers to Lovers, a big ol' mess, shadowhunters au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:47:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26128252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvaHasAClosetMurderBoard/pseuds/DontMakeMeFrosty
Summary: 'Cisco finds himself reaching into his folder and pulling out the same page Dr. Wells had seemed so intrigued by and places it down on the table, his friends immediately craning their necks to get a better look. “He honestly looked more interested in the symbols I drew all over it then on the design itself,” he tells them.“They look… interesting,” Iris voices out, her finger tracing the same contours and outlines on the paper, just like Dr. Wells had done back at Star Labs, and that’s when Cisco gets a strange sense of deja vu from it, like he’d somehow known that was exactly what she was going to say and do. He pushes the feeling down.'(A shadowhunters AU)
Relationships: Cisco Ramon/Caitlin Snow
Kudos: 8





	Braving the unknown, this is where we come alive

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MoonlightShines (Thatkillervibe)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thatkillervibe/gifts).



> Happy birthday tkv! Hope you like it ♥
> 
> Honestly this was supposed to have been posted during the Killervibe week for media adaptation, but my keyboard and replacement keyboard both decided to fail on me - that's the reason why I haven't been really posting lately. But alas, I got my keyboard properly replaced now so please enjoy 5k of a strange fusion between Shadowhunters and The Flash that I cocooned in my mind. 
> 
> More chapters to come, hopefully :P
> 
> Shoutout to @WardenRoot for the beta ♥

To say that Cisco Ramon is having the strangest day would be the understatement of the century. 

It starts off like any other normal day usually does, albeit with his mom and brother belting out at least three different versions of  _ ‘happy birthday’  _ before he even has a chance to sit down and have some breakfast. A plate of fluffy pancakes is placed in front of him shortly after, and then his mom jumps at the opportunity of filling both his cheeks with kisses, much to his dismay and his brother’s amusement. 

“Mooom,” he whines as she moves away laughing heartily and takes a seat to his left, “I’m not twelve anymore!”

“I know,  _ mijo _ . But you’re twenty-nine! It’s not every day you’re twenty-nine!”

Cisco frowns. “What’s so special about being twenty-nine? It only means one more year and I’ll be thirty.”

His mom seems to pause for a moment at that, and Cisco lifts his gaze from the plate full of pancakes dripping with syrup to watch her open and close her mouth. She does so a few times, an unreadable expression on her face, but what really gets him is the strange weight swirling behind her dark orbs, along with an edge of sadness that’s nearly unmissable. He shares a look with his brother then, who simply sighs and tilts his head towards the adjacent living room. It doesn't take him long to figure out what he’s trying to say without really saying it. 

“Mama,” he slowly speaks, reaching for her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze, “I miss him too.”

She shakes her head at his words, but there’s an unmistakable moisture lingering at the corner of her eyes, which she quickly tries to wipe away. “I know but it’s not that,” his mom says, flashing him a small smile. “It’s something else. We’ll talk later on about it, but for now, eat before you’re late! You have that job interview today, right?”

As much as Cisco wants to ask, he has to let it slide - his mom seems pretty done with the whole subject, her attention now fully on Dante as they begin a light-hearted discussion about Cisco’s birthday dinner, and before he knows it he’s running out the door with a folder full of schematics under his arm. 

He had got the time wrong. Cisco was going to be late.

****

The man in charge of Star Labs, Doctor Wells, glances up at Cisco every now and then as he inspects the schematics. His face gives away absolutely nothing as he moves from page to page, head tilting when there’s some hastily scribbled notes along the margins, and Cisco feels the sweat beginning to coat the palms of his hands when ten minutes pass and the man is yet to say a word. 

He pauses when he reaches the last page, his finger trailing the outlines of some symbols Cisco had subconsciously drawn all over this particular design, and Cisco’s eyes go wide. That page wasn’t supposed to be there.

“That’s- that’s a personal project,” he scrambles to try and explain, but Dr. Wells simply lifts up his hand to stop him before he can continue. 

“I have to say, these are definitely something I’ve never seen before…” he trails off and frowns, and Cisco thinks he’s about to be sent packing over that stray page. 

But that’s far from what happens. 

Dr. Wells is suddenly slamming the papers down and standing up, hand outstretched and congratulating Cisco on getting the job - he barely has time to comprehend what the hell just happened, but does manage to somehow wipe his sweaty hands on his pants and shake his hand, all while rattling out a string of thank you’s. 

Cisco gathers his papers back into his folder afterwards, bids another thanks and a polite goodbye, and then leaves Star Labs feeling proud of himself.

Although that only lasts until he sets foot on the pavement outside and feels inexplicable  _ watched _ .

****

He meets Barry, Iris, and Kamilla at a small cafe they’ve always hung out at called Jitters. They’ve had this tradition, ever since their high school days, to enjoy a nice cup of coffee there whenever one of them had something good happening or there was a birthday. It’s funny to think back and remember how they went from celebrating Barry’s first A+ and Iris' first car, to ultimately celebrate their engagement and marriage - it stands as a reminder of how much they’ve grown since then, even if himself and Kamilla have remained blissfully single.

Something he’s pretty sure could change if he just said the word, if the looks she throws at him are anything to go by. 

There’s a chorus of ‘happy birthdays’, quickly followed by ‘congratulations’ the second he sits down and tells them how his job interview had gone. 

Cisco finds himself reaching into his folder and pulling out the same page Dr. Wells had seemed so intrigued by and places it down on the table, his friends immediately craning their necks to get a better look. “He honestly looked more interested in the symbols I drew all over it then on the design itself,” he tells them. 

“They look… interesting,” Iris voices out, her finger tracing the same contours and outlines on the paper, just like Dr. Wells had done back at Star Labs, and that’s when Cisco gets a strange sense of deja vu from it, like he’d somehow known that was exactly what she was going to say and do. He pushes the feeling down. 

Barry tilts his head and Cisco  _ actually sees  _ his lips moving before he even opens his mouth,  _ sees  _ his hand raising up to touch his own chin in thought,  _ hears  _ the words  _ ‘I agree’  _ coming out of him. 

And not a second later does he do exactly  _ that.  _

Cisco shakes his head and focuses his gaze out the window for a moment, trying to make sense of what’s happening, but he doesn’t get a chance when there is a noise to his left that jolts him into attention. He  _ sees _ the waitress tripping,  _ sees  _ the warm coffee she’s carrying slipping from the tray and dropping right into his table, the liquid sloshing all over himself and his friends…

It’s driven by pure instinct that he stands up and manages to steady the waitress the second she trips and the whole crisis is averted. 

He barely hears her say her thanks, barely hears his friends whistling and playfully call him a hero, barely hears Kamilla going off on a rant about her landlord the second he sits back down - all Cisco can think and focus on is the strange feeling running through his veins like ice and the splitting headache that follows.

Not to mention he still feels like he’s being watched, somehow. 

****

Cisco pushes the front door of his childhood home open and easily finds his mom in the kitchen, busy frosting up a large cake. Her eyes light up the second she looks up from the task, but the corners of her mouth drop not even a second later. 

“You didn’t get the job?”

He shakes his head and sighs, dropping the folder on the kitchen table as he steps closer. “No, I did get the job.”

She frowns at that, putting the piping bag she’d been using down. She wipes her hands on the old apron she’s wearing and moves from behind the counter to sit on one of the chairs, gesturing for Cisco to do the same. “If you got the job, why do you look so unhappy, _ mijo _ ? I thought working at Star Labs was a ‘dream come true’ for you.”

Cisco contemplates his options. He knows he can’t tell his mom about what has happened without her getting increasingly worried, without her perhaps telling him he should get a job somewhere else if he has been feeling watched ever since he’d left, and clearly without her shepherding him into the emergency room to be checked out; but he also doesn’t want to have to lie completely to her. It doesn’t seem fair in any way.

“I have been feeling… strange, that’s all,” is what he goes for, adding a quick, “I think it may be just nerves or something,” when his mom raises an eyebrow. 

“Strange how?” she presses, and Cisco almost feels his resolve crumble when her eyes narrow, like she’s trying to see right through him.

“Uh, well my hands got really sweaty during the interview,” he starts, eyes flickering to a spot above his mom’s head so he doesn’t have to look at her as he speaks. “I got the impression Dr. Wells was more interested in the symbols I drew than in my actual schematics and then when I stepped outside I felt… watched. It was weird.”

He wants to leave it at that but his mom has other ideas. “What else? What else did you feel? Did something happen?”

It’s not the questions themselves - it’s the way she says it, sounding almost desperate, sounding almost like she’s begging him to tell her there was nothing else, - that has Cisco meeting her gaze again. 

And he really doesn’t like what he sees there. 

He doesn’t get a chance to get a word out, however. Dante slams the door open and immediately goes off on a rant about ‘musicians being absolute divas’ and the tension that had built up in the room dissipates like it’d never been there. His mom stands up and her full attention shifts to his brother, her cheery demeanour seemingly back from nowhere as she busies herself with the cake once again, laughing along at the impressions Dante is pulling out. 

Cisco takes that as his opportunity to quietly slip out of the room, but not before his mom shoots him a glance that inexplicably sends shivers running down his spine. 

****

It’s much later, after they all have dinner together, that his mom comes into his room and hands him a box. “I want you to have this,” is all she says as a matter of greeting before she shoves the old wooden thing into his hands, and Cisco’s eyes are immediately drawn to the somewhat familiar symbol etched on the lid. 

He takes a moment to trace it with his finger and then finally opens the box. A wand-like object - which reminds Cisco of his Harry Potter cosplaying days, - rests inside. The body is made of a golden metal, while the white tip appears to be something like polished quartz, and when Cisco reaches out and grabs it, its weight feels comfortable against his palm. Almost... familiar. 

Cisco brings it closer to his face and turns it around a few times to inspect it better. “What is this?” he asks after a few heartbeats, but his mom simply shakes her head and gives him a sad smile.

“You’ll know when it’s time.”

She walks out of his room without another word.

****

He honestly thought things couldn’t get any weirder afterwards, but he should have known better than to tempt fate into turning his life upside down. 

Because that’s exactly what happens next.

The club his friends drag him to is nothing short of loud and crowded, and Cisco is immediately keen in finding an excuse to walk outside for a breather the second they’re let in by the bouncer. Barry and Iris manage to somehow disappear into the dancefloor the second they find themselves a booth, leaving him and a somewhat very flirty Kamilla behind, much to his chagrin. There’s just so many not so casual touches that he can take though, as they sit there across from each other, and the second he feels her foot awkwardly rubbing against his leg he all but bolts, stammering some excuse about needing to use the restroom.

Cisco has never been more thankful for the crisp air of the night when he steps outside and the loud sounds turn into nothing but muted background noise. He pulls his coat closer to his body as he takes a few steps further away from the front door of the club, eyes downcast as he wonders if perhaps he can give his friends the slip without making things weird between them, and he’s so into his head that he doesn’t notice someone is walking  _ right into him  _ until they harshly end up bumping shoulders. 

He staggers at the impact, barely managing to catch himself and stay upright, and when he looks behind him he finds himself eyeing the back of a woman. She doesn’t seem affected at all by the collision and keeps walking with purpose towards the club, but Cisco is really having none of it. 

“Hey,” he calls out to her, “watch where you’re going!”

The woman freezes on the spot and slowly turns around, and Cisco can only barely see her expression in the low light. She appears to be confused, eyes darting around before she turns and steps closer until she’s right in his personal space. 

Now that she’s much closer he can clearly see her bright brown eyes and the hit of confusion they carry as she peers at him. Her equally brown hair cascades down her shoulders, a streak of white carefully braided and tucked behind her right ear, and her skin seems to be oddly pale, almost sickly so. She’s wearing a black dress with a decently sized low cut that leaves nothing to imagination and a pair of silvery heels that glint as if they’re coated with stardust. Cisco doesn’t even realize he’d been staring for longer than would have been deemed proper until she clears her throat and his gaze meets hers. 

“First of all, my eyes are up here, dumbass,” she barks out, and that’s when he notices, from the corner of his eye, a man coming closer and moving to stand right next to her.

“Is there a problem, Frost?” the man asks, making himself bigger in an attempt to intimate Cisco. It works. “Is this guy bothering you?”

To his own surprise, she shakes her head. “No, don’t worry, Ronnie - I’ll take care of this.” She gestures to Cisco with a wave of her hand. “Go ahead and find our target inside, I’ll meet you soon.”

The man,  _ Ronnie _ , doesn’t seem too convinced, but one glance from  _ Frost  _ and he’s turning around and marching towards the club. 

Not before he sends Cisco a warning glare, though. 

Cisco watches him go and then his attention is harshly demanded back by the woman, who jabs an accusatory index finger on his chest as she speaks. “Okay, now you’re going to tell me  _ exactly  _ how the hell you can even see me.”

He blinks at her and opens his mouth in confusion, wondering if this is some sort of joke. “What do you mean? You’re standing right  _ there  _ so of course I can see you. Was I supposed not to? Was I supposed to have ignored the way you literally walked  _ right into me _ ?”

She tilts her head and stubbornly folds her arms above her chest, gaze sweeping him from head to toe and then back again. “You appear and smell like a mundane and yet you can see me and Ronnie. That makes no sense.”

“Wait, what did you just call me-”

“Look, I don’t have time for this right now - mundane or not you need to stay out of our way and you need to forget you’ve ever seen us in the first place.”

Cisco lets out a frustrated breath through his nose. “Am I honestly supposed to understand  _ anything you’re saying _ ?”

Frost pinches the bridge of her nose and the movement reveals three strange yet familiar symbols etched on the skin of her forearm and wrist. “Just forget about it and  _ leave. _ ”

The last word is said more as a threat than a warning, and even though he’s got a million and one questions he wants to ask this woman, he stands there rooted to the place as she turns around and walks towards the club. Her heels click and echo with every step, and yet no one seems to notice her - not even the bouncer, who casually pulls the door open to grant passage to a tall man and Frost just so manages to enter along with him, without anyone making a fuss. 

There’s a clear line of people outside waiting to be let in, so there’s absolutely no way the bouncer would let her slip in like that; not to mention even if she’s some sort of VIP and is allowed in whenever she wants, there would still be a flurry of complaints following the action. 

And yet everyone is quiet. As if they hadn’t  _ seen her _ . 

Cisco weighs his options, curiosity pulling at the edges of his mind and completely throwing every ounce of reasoning out of the window, and it’s against every best judgement that he chooses to follow the woman into the club, despite the clear warning he’d received. 

****

In hindsight, staying outside and leaving really would have been a better option. 

It takes a herculean effort to spot Frost and her pal in the sea of people currently flooding the dancefloor, but when he does, Cisco has no qualms about pushing his way through to reach them on the other side. He makes it just in time to see them slipping behind a heavy black curtain, and again he’s met with the strange fact that no one really seems to notice them at all when the buff guy standing there guarding the area pays them no mind. A quick thinking second later and Cisco approaches the man with a half cocooned excuse, something about people doing illegal drugs in the men’s restroom, and he’s surprised as the guy actually believes him and leaves his post to go check it out. 

Cisco takes this in stride and manages to slip past the heavy curtain himself not a moment later, and what he finds on the other side has his blood running cold. 

Frost is standing over a man on one of the fancy leather couches, holding what appears to be an icicle to his throat as if it was a knife; meanwhile, Ronnie is standing a few feet away keeping two other guys at bay, and Cisco really has no idea what to make of it when he hears one of them actually _snarl._

“You know the rules,” she says as she pushes the icicle closer to his throat, and even in the low light it’s impossible to miss that blood has been drawn. The man doesn’t seem affected at all, however. “You’re not supposed to feed on mundanes.”

Cisco tunes into the strange word being spoken again, but keeps watching the scene unfold as the man simply laughs in her face. “Aww, come on, really? I slip up once and they immediately send the shadowhunters police in. Is this the part where I’m under arrest and should ask for a lawyer?”

There’s barely any time to react. _Frost_ lets out a bitter laugh of her own and drives the icicle deeper, and the man evaporates in a black cloud. Cisco yells out a _‘hey!’_ as it happens, which proves to be a mistake as the two others notice him and their snarls grow louder. He hears the woman yelling something and then Ronnie is tossed aside like a ragdoll and the two men advance on Cisco, their long fangs now pronounced and glinting dangerously under the harsh lights of the club. 

The strange cool feeling from before is back full force, running in his veins as he gets another deja-vu feeling - he sees one of the men swinging towards his left side, while the other disappears and reappears behind Cisco. As if on cue he finds himself dodging the first blow and turns around just in time to see the other men evaporating into a cloud of smoke as the icicle  _ Frost  _ had been holding waltzes through the air and embeds itself into his chest. It clatters to the floor but doesn’t shatter like he’d expected it to, but it does lose the strange unnatural glow from before.

He doesn’t get much time to ponder on the physics behind it, however, when he’s once again assaulted with the strange deja-vu feeling, and this time what he sees makes his stomach churn. The last man, seemingly now fully focused on the woman, dives for her at a speed almost unperceptive to the naked eye and she doesn’t seem to notice him, that is until his hand is wrapped around her neck and he lifts her off the ground. Cisco notices his mouth moving but whatever he says doesn’t register - all he can see is the way Frost’s bright eyes turn a dull color and she goes limp in the man’s grip. 

Cisco doesn’t know what pushes him to do what he does next, but as the man dives for her he doesn’t think. He kneels down to grab the icicle and, despite it feeling like it’s burning right through his skin, he holds onto it and throws it right towards Frost. The next few moments happen like as if in slow motion, as just as Cisco thinks that perhaps he made a mistake, that perhaps all that throw is going to do is harm the woman, the man from before appears to materialize again as the icicle hits him and goes right through his back. He’s standing just shy of entering Frost’s personal space when it happens, and the second his form goes out in a black cloud of smoke like the others, all Cisco can focus on are the wide brown eyes staring right at him. 

****

“How did you do that?” Frost asks as she bends down to retrieve her icicle from where it’d fallen on the floor, and Cisco has to blink when the ice just evaporates on her hands. By all accounts, that shouldn’t be possible, and the first thing his brain does is going through formulas and diagrams trying to make sense of what he’d just witnessed. He doesn’t get too far, however, because Frost has somehow moved closer and is now standing right in front of him. “Well?”

“I don’t- I don’t know,” he manages to stammer out, “I’ve been seeing things happen  _ before  _ they happen.”

Frost seems to consider his words for a moment. “Do you feel anything when it happens?” 

It doesn’t seem right to openly share these things with someone he’d just met - and considering what he’d seen her doing - but Cisco finds himself at ease around her, for some reason. “A cold sensation down my arms. And there’s always a splitting headache that follows.”

From the corner of his eye, he notices Ronnie coming closer until he’s standing right next to Frost. “That’s not good,” he says with a frown on his face, his attention on the woman, “he’s ‘vibing’. We need to get him to the institute so he can be properly monitored and protected. You know what will happen if anyone from the downworld catches wind of this.” 

Cisco raises his hands in defense. “Hey, I’m not going anywhere with you guys. I don’t know who you are or what you do but I can tell you right now I’m not ‘vibing’ or whatever you wanna call it, buddy.” His gaze shifts from Ronnie to Frost, and he feels a sudden pang in his chest when he notices she’s looking at him with a somewhat sad glint in her eyes. It’s not enough to make him change his mind. “I’m going to go home now and forget all about this. You two have a good night.”

Ronnie makes to grab at his shoulder but Frost catches his arm mid movement and shakes her head. “If he doesn’t want to come with us, we can’t force it.” She pauses to give Cisco a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes at all. “You can go. Enjoy your night.”

It’s strange to turn around, to push the curtain and leave them behind with more questions than answers, but Cisco keeps walking without looking back. He ends up running into his friends again before he can reach the exit, and it’s hard to ignore the apologetic looks Kamilla shoots his way as he comes up with an excuse to leave early.

****

It’s when Cisco reaches home that things truly take a turn to the worse.

The front door is clearly unlocked, the polished wood splintered around the lock like it had been forcefully thrown open, and when he pushes it fully open the sight that greets him freezes him in his tracks. 

The furniture of the living room and the kitchen is either turned over or broken, the old picture frames have been knocked out of the walls and smashed, and even the old china tea set that had belonged to his great-grandma lay in shards next to the table - what’s left of it at least. Heart frantically beating in his chest, Cisco makes it through the wreckage and calls for his mother and brother, getting increasingly worried when there’s no reply. He checks their rooms and then his own - everything lays scattered and broken, just like in the living room, - and deeming it as a robbery and maybe even a kidnapping, Cisco reaches to retrieve his phone from his pocket to call the police. The words ‘no service’ stare back at him when his screen comes alive, but they’re not all he sees. 

As his screen goes black again, a strange reflection on it catches his eye and he barely has time to dodge the clawed hand that comes flying towards him. The creature is human looking for the most part, with long black, glowy eyes and nails as sharp as knives. It hisses at Cisco, razor sharp teeth glinting as it does, and he has no idea what he should do. 

“ _ Come with me, Vibe, _ ” it says in a hoarse and creepy voice, “ _ fulfill your destiny. _ ”

“What did you do to my mom and brother?” he demands to know instead, but all he gets in reply is laughter. He tries again, voice raised. “Where are they?!”

But the creature is having none of it. “ _ Come with me, come with me, _ ” it sing-songs, claws digging and scraping down the floor, leaving long marks.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” he spits out, reaching behind him to grab the remains of a chair and throws it at the creature, making a run for it when it howls in pain.

He doesn’t get too far, however. The thing is faster than he’d originally thought and before he can reach the front door it pins him down on the floor, his claws digging right through his left arm. He yelps in pain, vision slowly darkening at the corner, and then the creature is bending down and opening its mouth and Cisco thinks this is it.

Except it isn’t.

An icicle suddenly pokes through the creature’s chest and it shrieks as loud as a banshee. Cisco barely has half a mind to reach and cover his ears, watching the thing twist and bend and curl onto itself, only to disappear in a cloud of dark smoke just as the others he’d seen had done. His vision is slowly starting to go though, and he barely manages to catch a glimpse of Frost as she comes into view and kneels down next to him.

****

_ ‘Just hold on.’ _

The voice sounds distant but familiar, and even though Cisco feels like he’s weightlessly drifting through the sea, there’s a warmth and anchoring weight on his right hand. He finds himself focusing on that, squeezing his fingers around whatever it may be, subconsciously refusing to let go.

_ ‘That’s it.’ _

_ ‘Focus on my voice.’ _

_ ‘You’re doing great.’ _

A strange sense of peace washes over him, and he finds himself closing his eyes to revel in it, to fully enjoy and embrace it, but something - or someone - jolts him out of it. The weight on his hand grows heavier and more pronounced, and that’s all the warning he gets before a spark of hot searing pain burns through the skin of his injured arm and the world goes blank once again.

****

Cisco wakes up to a strange room, on a bed that’s clearly not his, and the first thing that reaches his nose is the faint scent of lavender. He takes a moment to glance around, somehow still not ready to move, thoughts racing trying to recall exactly what had transpired. He goes over the morning breakfast as his eyes scan the long dark blue curtains covering the floor to ceiling large windows. He thinks back to his job interview as he looks at the polished vanity and the tall dresser, he remembers Jitters and the conversation with his friends - and from there is when everything unfolds nearly all at once. 

He jolts himself into a sitting position and immediately winces, catching sight of the crisp white bandage wrapped around his bicep - but what gives him real pause is the strange symbol etched on the skin of his forearm. It’s familiar in a sense of him having drawn it on paper multiple times before, but seeing it now tattooed on his skin… 

There’s no time to freak out or wonder why he’s not wearing a shirt anymore, however, when a voice sounds to his left. 

“Oh, you’re awake.”

Cisco raises his eyes to find Frost standing by the door, her whole demeanour a cry from the night before. She’s looking at him almost shyly, gaze darting from him to a random spot behind him, and Cisco actually finds himself feeling self conscious and pulls the sheets up to cover his chest. 

The action earns him a laugh.

Frost closes the door behind herself and comes closer, and Cisco notices how she also appears to be dressing more modestly, a simple white summer blouse with little blue birds on it and a navy blue skirt that reaches just above her knees.

“ _ Again _ , my eyes are up here, Cisco Ramon.”

The usage of his name has him meeting her gaze again. “How do you know my name?”

She doesn’t say anything at first - simply moves to pull an impressively decorated chair from the vanity and places it right by the bed, before taking a seat. “I did some research while you were out,” she quietly confesses, thoughtfully chewing at her bottom lip for a second. “You should have told us you’re a shadowhunter last night.”

Cisco frowns at the word. “I still have no idea what that is but I’m pretty sure I’m not  _ that. _ ”

Frost frowns and reaches into her pocket, pulling out the strange wand that his mom had gifted him the night before. “Then why do you have a stele and why can you see us? By all accounts, you shouldn’t be able to see anything belonging to the Downworld and yet...” 

She trails off, but Cisco knows she’s referring to the creatures that he’d seen at the club and the one who’d attacked him at home-

“My mother,” he frantically lets out, eyes going wide, “and my brother, they were both gone when I got home. I need to find them, I need to know they’re okay-”

He makes to stand up but Frost stops him, her cold hands moving to take hold of his shoulders. “You can’t leave, Cisco. It’s not safe out there.”

“I don’t care!” He raises his voice and tries to push her hands away, but his injured arm protests at the motion and he winces. His eyes meet hers again.“I need to find them, Frost. Let me go.”

“Caitlin.”

“... What?”

“Caitlin,” she repeats. “My name is Caitlin - Caitlin Snow. Frost is what I’m called when I’m outside in the field.”

The revelation throws him off balance somehow, and Cisco finds himself not struggling anymore. “Caitlin Snow,” he says, experimentally rolling the name in his tongue and liking how it sounds. “It’s a pretty name.”

He thinks he sees a bit of a blush coloring her cheeks, but it’s gone just as soon as it appears. Caitlin clears her throat. “Well if you’re done flattering me, we can start figuring things out. You’re clearly a shadowhunter, Cisco - that much is true.” He opens his mouth to protest but she simply shakes her head and continues. “But it’s really strange that you don’t know what that is at all, given the rare ability that you possess.”

Caitlin moves her hands away from his shoulders and places them on his thankfully clothed knees instead, her eyes shining with a strange glint. “One question remains though - are you ready to figure this all out?”

He swallows, eyes flickering to the strange symbol etched on his arm for a moment, before his gaze meets hers again. “Do I even have a choice?”

Brown eyes soften at his words as Caitlin purses her lips. “I’m afraid you don’t.”


End file.
